Lifes blood
by Deztructive
Summary: set before, during and after X2, the story of a former hitman turned good, plenty of new faces join the fray, but not necessarily on the same side. First FF, please R&R, be gentle, X2 Spoliers, please read. chpt 1 now up.
1. Prologue final word is accidental

Life's Blood.  
  
Prologue  
  
The opportunity was perfect. In the six months he'd, been following Tzu he had never had a better shot. If he pulled this off, the half million would be his, he could return to his apartment and he'd have enough to never need kill again. He checked the sight on his arm. Perfect. The minimal energy required for the shot was already building, it wouldn't take much. He could summon so much more, but not for this. A dense sliver would suffice. The doors to the balcony across the street opened slightly, was it Tzu, there was no way for him to tell, it had to be. It always was. Tzu Liang, the opulent crimelord and head of the Miami Syndicates, for years he had commanded the largest Gang in the Deep South. Founded by his father, the Tzu clan had controlled all of Miami for 10 years with wave upon wave of fear. With his father dead at he hands of a Russian Assassin Liang had taken the reins. That day was 2 years ago, but today was just another day. He had risen as normal, taken tea with his wife, and head towards the balcony as he always did to survey the city that was his. The usual assortment of balcony dwellers were in attendance at the hotel across the street, several children enjoying his city's sun, a young couple embracing one another. A small glare in the corner of his eye drew his attention to a young man on the top floor. Strange he thought, the man was pointing at him, did he know him. It was hard to tell who it was. As he squinted against the suns brightness, a blue halo surrounded the pointing hand, a small pulse of blue ether and a small light arched its towards him. The last thing he saw was a needle of light as it impacted with his forehead and the world exploded into blue and finally darkness. The Crimelord hit the deck. The hit had been made. It wouldn't be long before the body was found. he had to escape. He removed the scope rig from his forearm. Stripping it down, he packed into his case, gave the room a once over for evidence. Finding none he made his way to the elevator. It descended to ground level , After checking out he left the hotel. Turning the corner he heard the first sirens approaching. The body had been found. A clean escape. The cops would find no bullets, no weapon, there were neither. The only evidence was a dead crimelord, apparently shot at close range with what could only be a shotgun blast. They'd suspect his wife, but the case had would be thrown. The Syndicate still had power before the internal struggles for leadership began, but that wasn't his concern. All that remained was to collect payment and his time, as a hitman would be over.  
Pulling up outside Vino's he pulled his GT500 to the kerb, locked up and entered the restaurant. The owner Anthony Gorvino sat at his table. His friends, family and close associates called him Tony, his enemies and those who feared him called him The Bulldog. He could see why. Decades of gang warfare had left its toll on the ageing gangster. His face was a network of scars and his nose had clearly been broken more than once. Gorvino rose from his table. "Ah, my faithful Assassin, back from the hunt I see, I see form the news your job was a success, but I guess your not here to drink to our victory, your Money." He signalled to someone across the restaurant. " Half a million Dollars as promised". One of Tony's men put a large metal briefcase on the table. After the customary opening of the money , he took the case and began to rise.  
"It's all there."  
"I believe you"  
"I wish to thank you for this undertaking "  
"Not a problem. Nice doing business with you". Stepping Away from the table, he began to make his exit.  
"Mr Grant, I was hoping to hire your services once more."  
"I'm afraid that's impossible, I'm officially retiring as of now"  
"It saddens me greatly to hear that, unfortunately this complicates matters a great deal, as now you work for me, I'm afraid I own you and this news wounds me that I must now have you killed  
"What!"  
With his command to kill, every lackey in the restaurant drew  
his gun and began  
firing. He ducked under the nearest table upending it. Creating a  
small ball of energy, a  
Well-aimed throw took out three gangsters to his right and a large  
section of wall with them.  
Using the momentary distraction, he checked the positions of the other  
gangsters. The  
Bulldog behind his upturned table with a group of six lackeys with him  
to my left, five more  
directly in front of him. Launching a ball of energy at each group. He grabbed the case and ran. Bullets  
skimmed past him, he left the restaurant, the bullets stopped as two  
huge explosions ripped  
through the restaurant. Jumping into his car, he floored it, If any of  
the Bulldogs men had  
survived that the knowledge he was a mutant would spread like wild  
fire. He had to leave  
Miami, no Florida, now.  
  
3 Years later  
  
As the song goes "Your in the army now", Well he'd be damned if the writer had ever really tried it, He doubted he'd be singing anything. Two and a half years He'd been here, two and a half too long too long. After Vino's He'd run. Faceless assassination he could walk away from, but killing a respected Mob boss, killing his men and demolishing his restaurant. That you run, or more precisely you break speed laws to get away from. He had run to Canada, for lack of any previous qualifications, All he could do was join the Military.  
They didn't know how but his marksmanship excelled the other new recruits. This pushed him up through the ranks. After two years, he'd made sergeant, an impressive feat in itself; He'd also gone from a six foot two inch, 200lb, longhaired hitman to six two, 300lb, shorthaired marine.  
He'd been transferred twice, since enrolling, first to a guard post outside Edmonton, then to a military base in the back of beyond at some place called Alkali Lake, US run. He'd heard rumours but a posting was a posting. At the time he didn't know what was happening at Alkali, he doubted he would have taken the post if he did.  
Upon arriving at the base he was shocked to discover the main compound was underground, buried under an old energy research station. Resident marines had told him the station had been left in ruins by an escaped solider code named weapon X.  
He'd been assigned a squad of ten men to guard a perimeter tower east of the base. the first two months flew past as the daily monotony pushed the weeks swiftly by. And as the saying goes, literally all hell broke loose. Beginning with a solitary trespasser who left as soon as he arrived. Under a week later an all out assault struck the base. He was spared the massacre, which sounded through the intercom. The resulting explosion of the base however rocked the entire lake, including the tower in which he was standing.  
The floor had given way and he and his squad members had fallen through the debris. Several well-placed energy balls prevented some of the larger pieces of debris from killing him and his men, he hoped they would be so distracted by the fall, that they wouldn't notice them.  
Pain lanced through is right side as he hit a fallen beam on landing. Still groggy from the fall, he surveyed the scene. Two men had been killed by the fall, another by the ceiling falling on him while he was in the mess. The rest were dazed or injured. A lieutenant with a vicious cut across his face approached him.  
"Sir, What just happened?"  
"Clearly we just got hit by something."  
" No Sir, The blue lights, what were they?"  
"Electrical discharge, sun glare through the debris it could have been anything." he lied.  
"Sun Glare doesn't disintegrate half tonne chunks of concrete, Sir." the squaddie replied uneasily.  
"What are you implying Soldier?"  
" What I'm Implying, Sir, is that you are a mutant, that somehow you have covered it up and in doing this I must place you under arrest."  
"Trust me, you do not want to do that."  
"And why not?" He replied using a sarcastic tone that was beginning to irritate Marcus.  
"Because. You're absolutely right, I am a Mutant, a particularly dangerous mutant, who has killed more people than you've kissed girls" the fear was rising in the soldier's eyes.  
"Do not try my patience" Marcus Continued.  
"You don't frighten me, Sir" the tone of sarcasm getting more confident, he was beginning to piss Marcus right off.  
"Well, I should" with that Marcus hit him with the small spark of energy he'd creating. It exploded with a sickening crunch against his chest, the standard issue bullet proof vest ridiculously ineffective, he slumped to the floor, the crater in his chest misting in his cold weather. The other unhurt squad members began to advance. Two large energy balls took care of them. He had to escape, something very wrong was happening; he had to get away.  
  
He headed North towards the river opening. Three Watchtowers stood between him and the freedom he was once again trying to find. The first tower was a little way to his right. An accurate shot with a large Energy ball brought the towers remains down on top of the occupants. The other towers met similar fates. The river was in front of him. He'd made it, In that moment all pain he had ever known returned condensed into a single dagger that pierced his mind. He fell to his knees. Burying his head in the snow. Not even the cooling snow could soothe the pain. He could see death, It was a great wall of fire, burning all before it, singling out Marcus as its only target. And as soon as it came it went, leaving its impression in his head. He pulled himself to his knees and began to claw his way to the bridge over the river. Reaching the bridge, he pulled himself up to the rail. He looked south across the lake. The dam was gone, demolished somehow. He felt an immense power at work, building to a crescendo of overwhelming force, he'd never felt anything like it. Where the dam once stood a strange jet he couldn't identify rose, turned on its axis, and sped at what he could only describe as reckless. With its departure the power he felt was extinguished. He knew something had happened at Alkali, He didn't know exactly what but he would find out, as soon as he got out of here, he would find out. The military would pronounce him dead, body lost at, he supposed, lake. Anything caught in the undertow of the flood over the dam would be unidentifiable. They'd never know he'd escaped. He could use this advantage. He had a fresh start. His real journey had begun. nessecarily 


	2. Ghosts in Shadow

Disclaimer - All non recognisable characters are my own, any similarity to any existing characters created by marvel or any other original character is purely coincidental. I'm not in the business of stealing characters, so if I have used names that you have seen before, tell me and ill change them Ta.  
  
If you want to use any of my characters, drop us a message and Ill write you a back-story for them.  
  
I've tried to sort out the paragraph problem that is so obvious in the prologue, but I can't guarantee it won't happen again in later chapters. The Prologue is complete. The necessary at the bottom of the page, was accidentally left in before I uploaded the chapter.  
  
Chapter 1 - Ghosts in Shadow  
  
It had been two months since the events at the lake and Marcus had become part of the mutant underground, what ever had caused the pain in his head, had hit the world. Tensions were high on both sides, The mutants blamed the humans, and Vice versa.  
  
So he'd gone into hiding, he'd gone back to the US, once people had known him as Sgt Marcus Grant, now he was known as Pulse. He had spread the name as a way of hiding his past. Basing it on the blue haze that pulsed from his hand as the energy balls left them.  
  
He'd fallen in with a group of mutants holed up in New York. They called themselves the Ghosts of Manhattan. The members of this motley crew were powerful mutants who had fallen from favour with whoever they knew because of their mutations.  
  
Their Leader Maelstrom or Edgar Marlow, was a middle-aged man, whose gaunt frame concealed an immense power. He could create huge tornado's that on his command ignited to create a blazing 'Maelstrom'.  
  
The second member of the group was both immovable object and unstoppable force, the man-mountain Terra. Stephan Eriksson, ten feet tall, and about as wide. Stood still He looked like a nightmare in stone, his skin had the appearance of a craggy rockface, It was Adamantium in its purest form, not as indestructible as its refined state but still as impervious as stone.  
  
Next were the twins Lara and Lana Jones, Known as Psion and Kinesis, identical twins in appearance, relatively short, with shoulder length blonde hair and body's models would die for. The only difference between them was their mutant abilities, Lara was a powerful telepath, who could read or control unprotected minds. Lana was an incredibly powerful telekinetic, able to move things at a whim.  
  
The final member of the Ghosts was a young girl, no more than twenty years old, shoulder length black hair, a cute face, and through the brief glimpses he had when she opened the black long coat she always wore showed him she had a nice figure. At some stage in her life, he figured something had happened to her that had broken any confidence she could have had. To a lesser extent her mutant ability was identical top his, just to a lesser extent in that where he could create super dense, super explosive balls of energy, she could create hundreds of small energy sparks, each with about as much destructive force as a firecracker.  
  
She called herself Jubilee, although Maelstrom had since informed him that her real name was Jubilation Lee. Much of her time was spent in her room. Nothing was known of what, if anything, she did in there, they only really saw her at meals and even then she said nothing.  
  
They lived a modest life of crime, stealing if they had to. They fought, almost constantly, to survive, mutants, humans, anything that threatened them.  
  
In the time he spent as a ghost Marcus learnt to control his powers a little more. He learnt to soften the density of his Pulses so they wouldn't kill. He'd killed enough for one lifetime. He still could but he now had a choice.  
  
They lived like this for a while until Maelstrom decided they had lived in the shadows for too long, Marcus presumed he was referring to the ghosts' pre-him. He had decided they would make a surprise attack on the friends of humanity, A neo-nazi organisation that had sprung up after the pain had hit the humans. They wanted to see every mutant purged from the Earth. Maelstrom had used the excuse that they had killed a family of mutants living in the Bronx, but there had been no news other than his say so. He knew they kept the more powerful mutants in a prison in one of there facilities.  
  
Maelstrom was recruiting.  
  
Arriving on the outskirts of the complex, the first thing that struck Marcus was how much this place looked like a military installation than a terrorist hideout. This group had some serious, possibly government backing. A sweep of the perimeter found the location of close circuit cameras, Electric Fence generators, Heat tracking, remote guns, motion sensors and armed patrols. Whatever was inside, thought Marcus, they wanted to keep quiet.  
  
Maelstrom's plan was an all out assault, but after discovering these defences a new plan of attack was needed.  
  
Their entry point was a short section of fence, which backed onto the surrounding forest, dark enough that the cameras and patrols wouldn't pick them up. Kinesis obliged as she lifted them up and over the fence, and then glided over herself. Moving quickly to the nearest out building, they encountered little resistance as they reached a large storage warehouse. Psion had proven useful when any patrols had got a little to close. She just told they're minds to carry on and that there was nothing of interest in their direction. Well-placed Pulses saw to any cameras they spotted. The same fate awaited the guns.  
  
Picking the lock, they entered the store. Inside, there was pile upon pile of surplus weapons crates; equipment crates were also present. Searching one of the back corners of the warehouse, Terra came across a trapdoor to the service tunnels under the complex. They had found what they were searching for. A way in. Another search of the store brought some more luck. Bulletproof vests for those of the ghosts without near invulnerable skin, A new sight for Marcus's Arm rig. He may need it, he thought. Terra made a slight adjustment to the hatch, a slight adjustment only a tonne of stone could make to a service hatch. Taking point the Man-mountain entered the tunnel. Maelstrom and the twins followed suit. Pulse was to take the rear, looking round he found Jubilee was strangely absent. They'd brought her along, in case she could prove useful or at least as a distraction, maelstrom had mused.  
  
"Go ahead" he called to the others. "Leave her" ordered Maelstrom "We may need her. " he replied. "I don't see how" "You made her come" "Very well, hurry, we'll wait here" "I'll find her." He said leaving the mouth of the tunnel.  
  
He found her huddled behind a crate of mortar shells.  
  
"Are You OK?" She looked at him despairingly, she replied in voice so quiet he had to strain to hear. "I can't do this, I shouldn't have come." "Why not" "Compared to the rest of you, what do I do, nothing, I do nothing, Edgar has it right, I'm just a distraction, You don't, need me here at all". She was practically shouting. "Of course your needed, your part of the team." He reasoned. "Yeah the weak link, I've never been needed by you guys before. I've never been on a mission like this, because I can't do anything useful. "If your not useful" Marcus replied " Why are you here? Do you think Edgar would bring you here if you weren't?" "I suppose, but that's not the Poi." she tried to argue. "Clearly it is." He interrupted "there must be some skill, other than you considerable mutant ability, that made him bring you." "My ability is nothing more than a cheap light show, and you know it." She screamed. "Calm Down, What the hell makes you think that? I've seen your sparks and although there not as powerful as say, my Pulses, I bet they can still knock a guy down or bring a wall to dust if pour enough of them into it." He replied. "You think". She said shakily. "Yeah, you just haven't had the opportunity to use them at they're fullest. But apart from that you must have other skills." " I'm pretty good with computers." a small measure of confidence was returning to her voice. "How good?" "I once hacked in to my school's computer, cause my grades were low". She said. "So you're a computer expert, why didn't you say anything before?" "You never asked." For the first time since he'd met her, she smiled. he could have sat there talking with her for hours, but as it was , they had no time. "We've gotta go." "OK."  
  
She was still withdrawn but as she climbed down into the tunnel, a glimmer of hope, was in her eyes.. It was one of those cliché tunnels found in every military or commercial complex, a floor slick with water, pipes, tracing along the walls to an unseen source. They followed it as it continued towards the main building. They came across the others near a large set of blast doors. There was something that clearly needed to be hidden behind them. " What you couldn't get through these by yourself?" Behind him, Marcus could hear a stifled giggle. "Very Funny." replied Maelstrom " you were in the military, you should be able to get through them."  
  
Marcus checked the surrounding area for a way through the door, he found a small hatch to right of the door. Behind it he found a mass of coils. "I'm sorry, I can't get us through here." "What." Inquired Maelstrom. "I can't get us through here, but" "But what?" "But" he paused "Jubilee, come and take a look at this, you should be able to sort this." He gestured for her to come closer. "What would she know what to do with it?" Said Kinesis with an air of arrogance. "Didn't I tell, Your looking at our electronics expert". "What?" Exclaimed Kinesis. "What?" said Jubilee thrown completely off guard. "Yes she should be able to get us through here". "I should" still in shock. "Yes, if you come and have a look at this panel here, I'm sure you'll know what to do with it."  
  
Finally getting it "Oh yeah, I'll take a look. Shouldn't be a problem". Crouching down beside Marcus, she looked inside the panel. "Now what" She Whispered. "Short it" replied Marcus. "Huh." "Use your sparks to short the circuits of this door, not too much you don't want these guys to see how you do this." "Right."  
  
Placing her hand inside the hole she let the sparks flow, a short burst later and the doors slid open. They continued inside the doors, Jubilee held Marcus back by the arm. "How did you know that would work?" She asked. "I didn't" he replied. "Oh OK. Hey, Why didn't you try anything?" "I would have killed us all." "Really." "Possibly, but who cares, we found a use for you, the doors opened, well done."  
  
They continued down the tunnel. It opened out into a small antechamber. Several similar tunnels led away in various directions, a small Stairway, was directly in front of them. "The main building should be up there." Said Maelstrom." We need to get the mutants they have here out, and then, we blow this place to hell." They climbed the stairs, at the top they found the guide they would need. Psion tapped into the guards' mind. Lifting the map from his mind, she signalled she had what they needed. With this signal Terra, knocked the terrorist out with a flick of his huge finger. The middle finger, thought Marcus, he was mocking them. Psion instructed them to the right. They made there way to the Prison Wing. 


	3. Freedoms we share

Disclaimer - As in chapter one.  
  
Chapter 2 - Freedoms we share  
  
They reached the Prison wing with little incident. Two groups of guards were disabled courtesy of Psion's mind-bending powers. They didn't see the small group pass through the halls, and those that did, soon suffered a bout of amnesia.  
Pulse's worth was proven when several cell doors still barred they're way to the prisoners, several small pulse slivers, served as adequate lock picks. The cell doors slid open one by one. Many were empty. But those that were occupied contained a varied spectrum of mutants, Telepaths, A telekinetic, several with physical mutations. Further along the corridor, of cells the doors switched from being simple locked doors to more substantial thick metal blast doors. With a newfound flare, Jubilee shorted the locks of each door in succession. Marcus knew these would contain the more dangerous mutants.  
He was proven correct as several projectiles exploded out of the cells as they were opened. Using her ability, Psion subdued them as Terra and Kinesis held the stronger Mutants. At the end of the Corridor they found a single door. Twice as large as the other doors, and twice as thick, Marcus thought. He would have to blow it.  
"Everyone back, I'm going to have to blow this door away." He ordered.  
The gathered crowd moved further back up the corridor.  
"Psion, see if you can contact whoever's in there, tell them to move away from the door and get behind cover"  
"I'll try." She replied.  
The look of concentration on her face intensified as she connected with whatever was behind the door, after a short while she collapsed. Her sister was immediately by her side. In a weak voice she said,  
"I got through. Somehow the door blocks my power but I got through. There are two of them in there A young man and woman. Both in there teens, They kept asking for a Professor or something, after I told them we were here to help them they quietened down, they're ready. Whatever your planning do it now." She slumped down into her further into her sister's arms.  
She'll be OK", reassured Kinesis, "She's just over exerted herself. Go."  
Marcus moved to a spot in the corridor where he would be safe from then blast. He hoped Psion was right about them being ready. He summoned two fairly large pulses. Released, they arched towards the door, the door buckled as the immensely destructive force smashed against it. As the dust settled the Group could see that the Door was stronger than they had thought, It had buckled and warped, but it had not fallen. Marcus approached the door, a Large hole had appeared where the door would normally separate.  
" You OK in there?" He Inquired.  
There was movement to his left, the sound of debris shifting.  
" We're alright" was the muffled reply.  
"I'm going to finish this door off so we can get you out."  
"Maybe we can help."  
"What's your name?"  
"Bobby."  
"OK, Bobby what can you do?"  
"This."  
The air around the hole suddenly became incredibly cold, small patches of ice crept around the edges of the door. Marcus understood what the prisoner was doing.  
" OK Bobby, I see what your doing, Brace yourselves, this one won't be as big as the last explosion but just to be safe."  
"Go ahead", shouted Bobby from the other side of the door.  
Another Pulse finished the door as it shattered where the ice had touched it. A large space was all that remained as the door came back into view.  
"You can come out now, It's safe." Said Marcus.  
" Who are you?" Asked the girl.  
" They call me Pulse, but you can call me Marcus, but more importantly, who are you, and what happened to you guys?"  
"I'm Rogue." She replied. "They caught three of us, a month and a half ago, this room blocks out our telepathic signals, so our friends couldn't find us. I thought no one would find us."  
"Wait you said three, where's the other one?" He asked, puzzled.  
"Right behind you." Said a voice Marcus would have never expected to say anything at that point.  
"What?" He exclaimed.  
"Jubilee, What are you doing here? I thought you escaped."  
" I did." Replied Jubilee, " But I couldn't find my way back from here to the mansion, I wandered for days, In a small town three days away, He found me on a park bench (She said pointing at Maelstrom), He took me in. I don't know why, I followed him. I Guess Psion could."  
" Let me get this straight, you know each other?" Interrupted Marcus.  
"Yes." They replied in unison.  
"Right, So why didn't you say anything before" He asked Jubilee.  
"Till Psion just collapsed, I couldn't remember anything past two weeks ago, I had just assumed I 'd always been there."  
"We have to contact our friends they'll help us." Said Rogue.  
" Unfortunately that is not an option." Interrupted maelstrom." You two, as you all will all of those gathered here will stay with me, and help further my. I mean Our cause".  
"What." Marcus Shouted, "That's not part of the plan."  
" Plans Change, my boy. Think Pulse, Think what good we could do, if instead of a group, we had an army at our side".  
Even if they don't want to, against they're free will?"  
"If necessary"  
" I won't let you ", Replied Marcus, Getting angry.  
"You don't have a say, you are my subordinate, and you will follow my orders" the aged mutant replied.  
"Maybe, Before you took what we were doing and made it your own private power trip. Now I don't think your cause is worth fighting for anymore."  
"You don't have that choice anymore Marcus Grant, you work for me, I own you." Ranted Maelstrom.  
"Wrong on all counts, I do have a choice, I don't work for you, I work with you, and you definitely do not own me."  
"Is that a threat?"  
" I guess it is" This could get nasty, thought Marcus. The other thing that crossed his mind was where were the friends of Humanity, surely all this noise would bring some attention.  
" Well threats need to be removed." He replied  
" Which is why I must Remove you " Threatened Marcus.  
" In that case, I suggest we follow the cliché and take this outside.  
  
A few Small pulses gave them an exit. Outside a look at the building revealed a plume of smoke rising from the far side of the complex. But Marcus didn't care about the how and why, he was here to fight, To Marcus Maelstrom was an unknown measure, he'd never seen him use his ability, this would be interesting he thought.  
  
From the floor in front of him, Maelstrom was creating what looked like a small tornado, which grew to about 20 Feet before levelling off. In a blinding flash it lit into a raging inferno, it then gained momentum and lurched towards Marcus.  
He created two large pulses, which flew towards the approaching Maelstrom, which exploded, on contact. The twister was torn in two, and the two remaining parts dissipated into nothing. With speed Marcus dived to the right and launched two smaller Pulses at Maelstrom's last position. He'd been busy whilst Marcus was dealing with the burning giant. Two more Maelstroms were raging around to his position. The pulses exploded somewhere in the distance. To combat the two smaller maelstroms he launched four small pulses at each, they met with the same fate as the giant. He sprinted around to the nearest cover. Finding a clear shot he launched several pulse slivers at Maelstrom. He hit maelstrom in the legs, which buckled underneath, two hit him in the right shoulder, which spun him to the ground.  
The fight over, the ghosts surrounded Edgar, as he lay on the ground. Striding towards them Marcus expected an assault from the followers. All Marcus got was Terra, " You've done enough, leave him be"  
  
Jubilee was now as unwelcome as pulse now that her past had been revealed to her. The remaining prisoners were gathered off to the right of the battleground. Some had made they're escape. Marcus addressed those who remained. " If you want to join him, feel free to. If you want to go home, go, I don't blame you, I'm Taking Bobby, Rogue and jubilee back to this Professor they talked about. " You don't have far to take them, may I introduce myself, I am Charles Xavier, I see you've found my students." Marcus turned round, in front of him was a wheelchair bound man in his late fifties, wizened through his experience. " I want to thank you for protecting my students here. Bobby, Marie, Jubilation, the other students have missed you." The Professor continued. "Ah'm sorry Professor, it's my fault we got caught." Replied Rogue. "Don't blame yourself, you couldn't have known the friends would launch a mutant hunt at that time, what's important is that now your safe." The professor then turned to Marcus " And how can we help you Mr Grant, You and your friends." "They are not my friends, the only friends I have now are Jubilee here and I suppose you and your students." " And what about these others" "I don't know them, They make they're own decisions, If they were to ask, would you take them in." "Of course, All mutants who wish to be taught, are welcome." "Me included." Inquired Marcus. "Including you." "I'd like to come with you, simply because I have no where else I can go."  
  
Out of all those present, aside from the Professor and his existing students, only two additional passengers found their place on the jet. Marcus and a Young women no older than twenty-five years of age, Her name was Monica Jenson, although she was also known as Spyne. She was fairly tall with raven Black hair cropped to her shoulder, the only clue to her mutation and her alias, were the three large openings in her knuckles. These Marcus found out were large pores, which could produce hundreds of needle like spines, razor sharp, of varying sizes from the width of a surgical needle to the width of a bullet and at he same speed as a bullet. Other than this, she could have sooner been a swimsuit model, Marcus thought. She was gorgeous. It turned out she had been trained in Dance and Martial arts to prevent any one would wish to hurt her. As she told Marcus of the amount of terrorists it had taken to finally bring her in, He thought she probably could. Of the others who had gathered outside of the prison, few followed Maelstrom and his followers and not necessarily by they're own volition. The others had scattered to the winds, fading into the woodlands surrounding the facility, into the night as the jet flew back to wherever this groups base of operations was. 


End file.
